Midnight Encounters Of An Unlikely Kind
by Carmen O'Reilly
Summary: Byakuya gets an unlikely visitor in the middle of the night, with more on her mind than koi carp... OOC-ness and fluff.


Hi! This little one-shot just popped into my head in school today. It's completely unrelated to any of my other stories. Sorry to anyone who is reading this that is reading "Hollow Days" and is getting annoyed at me. It's not intentional to keep you waiting for so long. I AM working on it, but I literally have been swamped with work. I HATE GCSES!

This story was inspired by a lovely piece of music I'm learning to play on the piano called "Riverflows in you" by Yiruma. It's just amazing! Check it out on Youtube!

Yeah... so this is just a one-shot for your enjoyment. No pairings and complete fluff.

Kuchiki-Taichou slept lightly at the best of times.

Ever since he had lost his wife, sleeping had become a necessity, rather than a luxury. He used to enjoy lying beside her, and enjoying the calm, happy aura she brought with her. But, ever since she had passed on, he had slept haphazardly, unconsciously seeking her prescience, only to be disappointed when he awoke to emptiness.

So, naturally, he was instantly alert as he heard his bedroom door be pushed open. His hand snapped out in front of him, a Kidō spell on his lips, only to see a small figure, illuminated solely by the moonlight that filtered through from the clear night sky.

"Byakushi?" a small, timid voice called, gripping the door tightly.

"Kusajishi-Fukutaichou?" he asked, disguising the sleep in his voice with irritation, "Do you have _any_ idea about suitable times to visit people?"

"S-sorry, Byakushi," she whispered, her head lowering. He frowned. Something was wrong. The brash, fearless Fukutaichou he knew Yachiru to be had vanished. In her place, a timid, tentative child stood. It was... unsettling to say the least.

Sighing, he stood and walked over to her and knelt in front of her.

"Yachiru, what is wrong? You must have a reason to be here so late," he asked, watching her intently.

She looked away from his gaze, not speaking and shivering in the cold. Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we cannot have you out here in the cold in the middle of the night," he murmured, quietly standing. He started walked along the wooden decking, but he stopped when he realised Yachiru had not moved. The night breeze ruffled her pink hair; obscuring her eyes and making her look somewhat older. He tilted his head, sensing something was amiss. She was _never _so silent or still. He could sense a deep sadness in the girl's reiatsu. Something inside him twisted uncomfortably.

Gently, he walked over to her, knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yachiru," he said, quietly, calmly, softly, "What's wrong?"

He couldn't have predicted her response. At all.

She released a ragged breath and flung her arms around his neck, crying silently into his shoulders. He stiffened in shock. Her tiny sobs triggered something within him and, without thinking; he wrapped his arms around her and stood, walking towards one of the many sitting rooms in silence.

A servant approached him, green eyes widening as he took in the sobbing child. He waved him away, adjusting Yachiru so that she was almost hidden from view in the folds of his sleeping yukata. He opened the shoji door with a free hand and tried to put her down on a cushion, but she clung stubbornly to him, still crying quietly. He sighed quietly and sat down, holding her closely and reclining into the cushions. The servant he had dismissed earlier entered wordlessly and placed a pot of tea next to him. Byakuya nodded gratefully. The tears didn't seem to be relenting any time soon.

He sat, rubbing tender circles on her back, for nearly ten minutes. Finally, her breathing calmed and she sat back in his lap and rubbed her eyes. Byakuya poured her a small cup of tea, heating it slightly with Kidō, and passed it to her. She smiled a watery smile and sipped it slowly. Byakuya poured one for himself, saying nothing. It would be the height of insensitivity to force an explanation out of her. Something had deeply upset the poor child and for him to be of any help to her, she would have to tell him upon her own terms.

She sniffed and rubbed a hand across her face again.

"Thank you Byakushi," she whispered hoarsely," I needed that."

He nodded, and she burrowed back into her spot on his chest.

"I'm sorry I'm bothering you with this, Byakushi," she said, her voice muffled by his clothing, "but I just _had _to get away from there."

Byakuya quirked an eyebrow. "From where? The Eleventh?"

He felt her head bop in a quick nod and his brow furrowed in confusion. The Eleventh was her home! She was the Fukutaichou, for goodness' sake! "

"Is someone…bothering you there?" he queried, still being gentle, letting her know without words that she didn't _have _to continue if she didn't want to.

Round, wet, brown eyes peeked out from under his raven hair like an owl's eyes shine in the night.

"Ken-chan was bothering me," she declared, seemingly growing bolder as she met with listening ears. Her lower lip stuck out petulantly and her eyes flashed angrily as she continued.

"Him and Baldy and Feathers and _everybody_ spent the whole night drinkin' sake! And when Ken-chan starts drinkin', _really_ drinkin', he gets really mean! He starts sayin' things he doesn't mean and starts tryin' to fight people MORE than normal and…and…" she took a steadying breath before continuing her rant, "and…he forgets about me."

Her voice had dropped to a whisper. All strength that rant seemed to have returned to her faded, as a flower wilts in autumn. Her shoulders sagged and her pink hair swung to cover her face as she bowed her head.

Byakuya felt a cold chill settle on the room. It seemed as if those four little words had been what all the tears had been about earlier. He pulled her closer into his embrace.

"I'm sure he doesn't, Yachiru. I'm sure it's-"

"Just the drink?" she asked, sardonically, "No, that's not it. If he had never thought of those things, then how would the drink make him say it? He's probably thought_ tons_ of mean things about me! And…and…"

Byakuya lifted her head up and put a finger to her lips.

"You don't know that."

She tried to speak but he shook his head.

"Believe me; you don't know what goes through Zaraki-Taichou's head. And if I were in a similar position to you, I would probably be as upset as you are."

She watched him with wide eyes, silent and giving him her full attention. If Byakushi wasn't her hero before, he certainly was now.

"But one thing you cannot do is allow what the sake says to come between you and him. He is lucky enough to have someone who cares about him as much as you do and I believe he cares about you just as much, despite what the sake says."

Her eyes were swimming with tears again. They glistened like diamonds in the soft half-light. Byakuya wondered if he had said the wrong things. He kept hold of her tightly as he continued, his voice dipping to a barely audible whisper.

"Love between people can be very hard to find and even harder to preserve. Cherish it, because there will come a day when you miss it more than anything," his lips curled into a rueful smile, and it was easy to tell he was drifting into some distant memory.

"Despite how much that person can anger you, scare you or cause you to feel terrible, they love you and, if they truly care for you, they will want you to love them back."

He paused to take a breath, looking down at the girl in his arms. He had gone from being the one embracing to the one being embraced. The tiny arms encircled his chest and she was sniffling again. He sighed and carefully stood, cradling the girl in his arms.

"Now, Yachiru," he murmured, smiling gently, "it's late and you and I need to rest if we are going to be of any use to the Seritei tomorrow. If you do not wish to return to the Eleventh Division, you may spend the night here. I'll go and fetch you a blanket, if that is what you want."

Her happy smile was blinding.

**A/N: This was longer than I anticipated. Tell me if I should continue One-Shots please!**


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